Venomous animal

“ The fresh flesh of the pigeon and the swallow, and owls’ feet burned, are good against snake-bites.
“If one has been bitten by a snake or by any venomous animal, another method of cure is to take salt fish and wine from time to time, so as to vomit in the evening. This remedy is chiefly 260 efficacious against the bite of the Chalcis, Cerastes, Seps, Elaps and Dipsas.”
In Equatorial America, and especially in India, a multitude of plants are credited with marvellous properties, which they possess only in the imagination of the snake-charmers or medicine-men by whom they are employed. ”

“ And assuredly the remedies are generally so severe as to be in themselves sufficiently terrifying. ‘No time for reflection;’ ‘no mercy must be shown,’ declares Sir Joseph Fayrer, in describing the incredible rapidity with which the venom inoculates the blood ‘in a moment of time.’ Where a deep wound has been inflicted by a highly venomous snake on a small animal, death has been known to occur in a few seconds, especially if the bite were on a large vein or an artery. Therefore if the bite be on a limb, to tie a ligature is the first thing to be done. ”

“ In cases in which the venom of dead snakes has to be collected, the best method of extraction consists in fixing the head of the animal to a sheet of cork and carefully dissecting out the gland on each side. ”

“ In experiments we are able to eliminate all these factors, and to follow in an animal inoculated with a known quantity of venom the whole series of phenomena of poisoning, the intensity of which can be graduated. ”

“ The ringhals, when excited, exudes a quantity of venom, which drips down the fangs and lodges behind the abrupt, horny, lower lip. Upon this the angry snake directs a blast of air through its extensible windpipe, with the effect that a jet of fine venom spray is emitted toward an enemy. This jet may reach a height of six feet. That the eyes are aimed at I have proved by experiment. If the poison reaches them blindness, which may be permanent, results. The bite of the ringhals is highly venomous, but the snake appears to prefer disabling its enemy by means of the spray of venom. ”

“ Except in the case of the species of Muræna, the venom of fishes 289 is generally found in one or more special glands, situate at the base of the dorsal or caudal fins, or beneath the opercular spines. When the animal defends itself it inflicts wounds with these rays, and ejects from its poison-glands a toxic or irritant liquid, which enters the sores. ”

“ On making an autopsy of an animal which has succumbed to intoxication by snake-venom, we find that the blood in the heart and large vessels is sometimes coagulated into a mass, sometimes entirely fluid, and that, in certain cases, it is as black as prune-juice, while in others it is of a fine transparent red colour. ”

“ The venom appears to be an indestructible fluid. Toxically it remains unaltered whether boiled or frozen, or mixed with the strongest corrosives. Diluted in water, alcohol, or blood, it is still equally injurious. The blood of an animal killed by a bite, if injected into the veins of another animal, kills that one also; and the blood of the second one killed is similarly fatal to a third, and the third to the fourth, and so on through a series of animals. Also so small a quantity is fatal where no remedies are attempted, that a venomous serpent can kill six or eight animals one after another ”

“ At the Pondicherry Hospital venom is collected in the following manner;168 The snake is brought by the snake-charmer in a chatty, a kind of earthern pot, covered with a rag, or half a calabash. Ensconced at the bottom of this receptacle, the reptile has a difficulty in making up its mind to emerge, which it does only after having been stirred up several times. Once it is outside the charmer forces the cobra to uncoil, and, while the animal is moving slowly along, fastens it to the ground by placing the end of a bamboo on its neck, quite close to the head. ”

“ If we inject a lethal dose of venom into the right thigh of an animal, for example, and several cubic centimetres of permanganate solution into different parts of the body, or beneath the skin of the left thigh, neither the general intoxication nor the local effects of the venom are modified. ”

“ The animal thereupon wakes up, rubs itself among stones or branches, divests itself entirely of its covering as though it were emerging from a sheath, and proceeds forthwith in quest of food.
The moult is repeated in this way three or four times every year. ”

“ All our American venomous snakes are too heavy and slow to climb trees. They get their prey—mice, gophers, snakes, etc.—by going to a place where it is likely to be running about, and then patiently waiting until something comes within striking distance. ”

“ A watch-glass, capsule, or receptacle of some sort, such as a cup or plate, is then introduced by an assistant between the jaws, and, with the index finger and thumb of the right hand, the whole of the region occupied by the glands on each side of the upper jaw is forcibly compressed from behind forwards; the poison flows out by the fangs.
The extraction of the venom from living snakes is effected in the same manner. The animal being firmly held by the neck, as close as possible to the head, so that it cannot turn and bite ”

“ Its body is heavy and thickset, and the flanks and the sides of the tail exhibit a series of glandular crypts, which secrete venom.
“The mucus which flows from the mouth, and resembles milk, eats away human hair,” wrote Pliny; “the spot moistened by it loses its colour, which subsequently returns. Of all venomous animals the salamander is the most terrible; it is capable of annihilating whole nations by poisoning the vegetation over a vast area. When the salamander climbs a tree all its fruit is poisoned, and those who eat of it die as surely as if they had taken aconite. ”

“ In order to avoid the risk of being bitten, it is always wise to begin by pinning down the head of the animal in a corner of its cage by means of a stick, and to seize it with a pair of long fenestrated tongs shaped like forceps. The operator then easily draws the reptile towards him and grasps it firmly by the neck with his left hand, always as close to the head as possible, at the same time raising the body quickly in order to prevent it from taking 154 155 156 hold of anything. ”

“ Besides reptiles, many other animals possess poison-glands and inoculatory organs which they employ, either to defend themselves against their natural enemies, or to capture the living prey upon which they feed. ”

“ One must press tightly or even bind fast the finger, the hand, the arm, above the wound, in order to prevent the passage of the venom into the blood. The wound must be made to bleed by the exercise of pressure all around it; it must be energetically sucked to draw out the venomous liquid. I have explained to you in speaking of the bee, and I now repeat it, that venom is not a poison. It will not act, however powerful it be, unless it mixes with the blood. ”

“ It may be known by dark spots down the back. When we speak of venomous serpents, we mean those whose bite is to be dreaded, because it conveys a tiny drop of poison, which mingles with the blood, and often causes intense anguish, ending in death. In poisonous serpents, the venom lies in a little bag at the root of a long sharp tooth, pierced by a narrow tunnel, through which, at the moment when the bite is given, the poison flows into the wound. If these poison-fangs—one on each side—are taken out, the bite of the most dangerous serpents becomes harmless. ”

“ Another extremely important fact, which must not be lost sight of, is that differences of toxicity, which are often considerable, are exhibited by the venoms of different specimens of the same species of snake, or by the venom of the same snake collected at different times. ”

“ Not exactly; there is another, which I have specimens of, but whose faculties I have never seen put to the test, which is called the spirting snake. It is about three feet long, and its bite, although poisonous, is not fatal. But it has a faculty, from which its name is derived, of spirting its venom into the face of its assailant, and if the venom enters the eye, at which the animal darts it, immediate blindness ensues. There are a great many other varieties, some of which we have obtained possession of during our journey. ”

“ ALL venomous creatures act in the same way as the bee, wasp, and hornet. With a special weapon—needle, fang, sting, lancet—placed sometimes in one part of the body, sometimes in another, according to the species, they make a slight wound into which is instilled a drop of venom. The weapon has no other effect than that of opening a route for the venomous liquid, and this is what causes the injury. For the poison to act on us, it must come in contact with our blood by a wound which opens the way for it. ”

“ But the distinguishing feature of venomous serpents is their poison fangs and glands, by which the fatal fluid is secreted. They kill by a stroke, or blow, which drives the fang into the flesh, and there discharges the venom. Some are intensely active and fierce, and will spring upon the traveler, as the fer de lance and the haje. Others, as the northern rattlesnake, seldom attack but rather retreat from man. ”

“ Cantor’s experiments show that the venom of the Hamadryad is extremely rapid in its action. A dog usually dies a quarter of an hour after being bitten, and Nicholson states that he has seen an elephant bitten by a snake of this species die in three hours. ”

“ The tropical species may attain a length of 10 or even 15 cm. Their bodies are composed of 21 segments, each provided with a pair of jointed legs. They live in shady places, such as woods, hidden under stones, dead leaves, or the bark of old trees. They feed upon small insects, spiders, and larvæ, which they kill with their venom. The latter is secreted by a racemose gland situated at the base of the poison-claws ”

“ When the quantity of venom introduced into the tissues by the bite of the reptile is sufficient to produce fatal results—which is happily not always the case—the venom manifests its toxic action in two series of phenomena: the first of these is local and affects only the seat and surroundings of the bite ”

“ The reptile is placed in a large covered jar, containing a pad of absorbent wool impregnated with chloroform (figs. 86, 87) , and in a few minutes it is stupefied. It is then grasped by the neck with the hands, and the edge of a plate is slipped between its jaws. On compressing the two poison-glands with the fingers, the venom dribbles out on to the plate. ”

“ For my part I have found75 that the blood of Naja, Bungarus, Lachesis, and Cerastes possesses the same properties, and a comparative study has been made by Wehrmann,76 in my laboratory, of the toxicity of the blood of the viper and of that of the blood of the eel, already established by Mosso (of Turin) .77
It is remarkable to find that the blood of the various venomous or non-venomous snakes, like that of certain fishes, such as eels, produces, when injected beneath the skin or into the peritoneum, local and general effects very similar to those of venoms. ”

“ The study of their venom, too, is of considerable interest, since it should lead to the quest of means of protection sufficiently efficacious to preserve us from their attacks.
Venomous reptiles are not always easy to distinguish from those devoid of any inoculatory apparatus. For this reason both classes alike have at all times inspired mankind with a lively dread, which is displayed among the various races in legends and religious beliefs.
In ancient days the cult of the snake occupied a prominent place. In Genesis the serpent is the incarnation of the Evil One, tempting and deceitful. ”

“ If, when one has been bitten and the snake killed, an examination is made of its head, it can be ascertained immediately whether the snake was venomous, and in this way unnecessary fright may be avoided. ”

“ Fishermen rightly 300 consider this variability to depend upon the amount of venom that has penetrated into the wound, and especially upon the season at which the accident takes place. The most serious results are recorded during the spawning season, and fishermen regard the Lesser Weever as being the more poisonous. ”

“ It may be that certain snake-charmers, who claim to possess family secrets which they transmit from father to son, employ an analogous method in order, in their infancy, to confer immunity to venoms upon those of their male children who are to inherit their strange and lucrative profession. ”

“ Of all birds, those that afford most assistance against snakes are vultures. The black ones are the weaker. The odour of their feathers when burnt puts snakes to flight. Provided with a vulture’s heart one need not fear encounters with snakes, and can also defy the wrath of wild beasts, robbers, and princes.
“Cock’s flesh, applied while still warm, neutralises the venom of snakes. The brains of the bird, swallowed in wine, produce the same effect. ”

“ Nothing like nearly all cases bitten present even half the symptoms described. Statistics reveal that only something like 12 per cent. of all persons bitten by the New World venomous serpents die from their wounds. ”

“ The treatment of the bites of venomous reptiles must be local and constitutional. Immediately the wound is inflicted it should be sucked freely and perseveringly. If the patient is too faint to do this for himself, a bystander may fearlessly help him ”